Things You'll Need:
- Wood Wood Lathe Birch Dowels Block Sander Sandpaper Cross-Cut Saw Wood Glue Wood Press Polyurethane Native American Ornaments
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Step 1
Choose the wood you'll use. You can use any wood you like. If you're doing all the carving by hand, stay with softer wood choices. If you use a wood lathe with saw and routing attachments, you can use any hardwood as well. Ash, beech, black walnut, cedar, and maple are all good choices. Cedar and ash are ideal carving woods. The wood you choose has less to do with the tone of your flute than its final dimensions.
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Step 2
Decide if you are going to make the flute from a single piece of wood or if you will use two pieces and glue them together. This choice is yours. Some flutemakers prefer working from a single piece of wood because they like their instruments solid, while others feel it's easier to work on the bore and tapering of the wood with two pieces. If you're doing everything by hand, two pieces is probably the best way to go. If you have a wood lathe, a single piece will do.
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Step 3
Start with a piece of wood 22 or 23 inches in length. Use a cross-cut saw to cut the wood vertically, along the grain, right down the middle of the full length of the wood piece, which will give you two halves you'll glue back together to make the final Native American flute. Cut the book-matched pieces to a width of 1 1/2 inches to 1 5/8 inches.
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Step 4
Sand the bore side of each wood piece to ensure they will fit back together flush. Use a piece of sandpaper and do this a little at a time, constantly checking for the right fit.
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Step 5
Cut the bore channel on both pieces of wood. You can use a hand bore tool if the wood is soft enough to allow you to make the bore trench. If not, set the wood on a wood lathe and use the wood lathe's bore attachment to make the bore channel. The final diameter of the inside of the bore for a key-of-C Native American flute should be three-quarters of an inch. Each bore channel needs to be a perfect half-circle. Use a half-round bit to get the correct depth of the routing channel. Make three or four shallow passes with the router, going a little deeper each time to avoid taking too much out in one pass.
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Step 6
Taper one end of each of the pieces of wood on your wood lathe to form the mouth end of the flute. Use a 5/8-inch bit to achieve the tapering and a 3/8-inch bit to cut the mouth-end hole where the air will enter the flute. Cut two birch plugs to fit into the flute to separate the bore of the flute from the slow air chamber. Cross-cut the bore end of the plug at 90 degrees and the slow air chamber's end at a 52-degree angle. This angled end of the plug is the ramp. Soak the plugs in polyurethane to make them resistant to moisture.
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Step 7
Cut the exit hole from the slow air chamber on the wood lathe using a bit cutter. You'll cut half of the hole into each half of the flute, ensuring they will fit perfectly together when the flute is finally glued together.
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Step 8
Brush a coat of polyurethane on each half of the flute and let it dry thoroughly, then use light-grain sandpaper to ensure the polyurethane coating hasn't caused the grain of the wood to rise and create rough spots. Glue the two halves of the flute together at this point. Put the pieces into a press and apply even pressure along the length of the flute, ensuring that it all comes together in an even fit. Wipe away any excess glue that's been squeezed out along the sides of the Native American flute, then run a wet cloth down into the bore to clear away excess glue. Let the flute dry before proceeding to the next step.
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Step 9
Cut a groove into the top of the flute between the slow air chamber and the bore of the flute. This groove is called the flue. It carries air from the slow air chamber to the splitting edge. Use a hand router and a jig to accomplish this cut. Use a small chisel and file to clean up any rough spots found on the surface and around the slow-air-chamber hole.
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Step 10
Do the final shaping of the Native American wood flute by turning it on a wood lathe to achieve the rounded look. A rounded appearance isn't necessary to get the proper sound from your flute. Some flutemakers will leave the flute square or give it a tapered look. The final shape and appearance of the flute is up to you. You can do all of the shaping on a wood lathe.
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Step 11
Drill the six holes into the flute using a hand drill or a drill press. The placement of the holes as well as the bore diameter and overall flute length dictate the key of the flute. The hole placement for a key-of-C Native American flute is set at a distance to center. Hole 6 should be 10 11/16 inches from center; hole 5: 11 7/16 inches; hole 4: 12 1/8 inches; hole 3: 13 1/16 inches; hole 2: 14 inches; and hole 1: 14 15/16 inches. The overall length of the Native American flute in the key of C should be 18 1/8 inches. Run a long bit down the bore to remove any hanging pieces of wood after drilling the flute holes.
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Step 12
Finish the flute with a coat of polyurethane and any kind of wood stain or varnish you like. You can apply a coat of glossy lacquer if you want. The flute is ready to be decorated with Native American ornaments and played.
